Boiling Springs Tony Nickle battles Reynolds' Matt Tofani during their 160l pound bout in the Bubblers 31-30 win in the first round of PIAA Class AA team wrestling championships at Giant Center. (SEAN SIMMERS, The Patriot-News)

T.J. Nickle was staring up at the Giant Center lights Thursday afternoon, fully aware he was in deep trouble.

The Boiling Springs senior was caught double dipping the same move by Reynolds senior Matt Tofani early in the second period of the pivotal 160-pound bout in the opening round of the PIAA Class AA Team Wrestling Championships.

“I think it was pretty close,” Nickle said when asked if he knew exactly how deep in the weeds he was. “It had me worried.”

Tofani hit the solid headlock on Nickle early in the second period, and you were just waiting for the referee to slap the mat.

It never happened, though. Nickle showed the fight of a cornered animal and avoided the pin but still trailed 5-0.

But his narrow escape was only the beginning for Nickle.

The senior put together an impressive final three minutes after Tofani's haymaker, scoring the final eight points and nearly pinning Tofani for an 8-5 victory that sealed the Bubblers' 31-30 victory.

“It really, really made me mad being put on my back. I don't like being on my back and I don't like to lose,” Nickle said. “I just fought as hard as I could. I wasn't going to give up a pin.”

Boiling Spring (22-0) beat the District 10 power Raiders for the second consecutive year in the first round. Next up for the Bubblers, who forfeited the late bout with the outcome secured, is a quarterfinal tilt with District 4 runner-up Central Columbia at noon Friday.

“What T.J. Nickle did was huge. That's a good example of a senior whose been around the block keeping his composure,” Bubblers head coach Rod Wright said. “He knows what's going on and didn't panic or get frustrated when he nearly got pinned. That was big.”

Boiling Springs wrestled brilliantly in six of the first seven matches to stake itself to a 25-6 lead after freshman Kyle Shoop reeled in a 14-3 major decision at 126 pounds in a match that started at 195.

The Bubblers won six of the opening seven bouts and surrendered only two takedowns during that stretch. The lone Reynolds victory during the opening run by Boiling Springs came at heavyweight when Chris Nottingham pinned Tyler Wentzel on a massive miscue by Wentzel.

“I thought we worked hard for six minutes today,” Wright said. “A couple of their guys wanted to mix it up early, and we didn't allow them to get inside us.”

After the Bubblers early salvo, Reynolds (18-3) did rally with victories at 132, 138 and 145 to pull to within 25-21.

Wright sent out his fourth freshman of the match, John Vaughn, at 152 pounds with the outcome starting to hinge on shaky ground.

“They are a tough team, my hat is off to them,” Wright said. “They just pull guys out of the woodwork to throw at you.”

After surrendering a first-period takedown to Raiders' sophomore Levi Stoyer, the Bubblers' freshman went to work.

Vaughn bulldozed his way to a double-leg takedown with 70 seconds remaining in the second period that was built more on hard work instead of technical savvy to grab a 5-2 lead.

A late penalty point and a late escape allowed Stoyer to close the final gap to 5-4, but the better wrestler clearly prevailed in what amounted to a turn-key bout in terms of the final outcome.

“I definitely played a role. But it was still a team effort,” Vaughn said. “We wrestled solid in the beginning and that helped me.”